Late Night Talk (Sleep Deprivation)
by yourknightingale
Summary: Set after PP1 and before PP2 Beca and Chloe, one random night, had a chat about flirting, feelings, and friendship. This might be how it began for them.


"Beale, you know your eyes are blue."

Chloe looked up from the book she was trying to read as she conveniently laid herself atop Fat Amy's bed. She furrowed her brows towards the brunette's direction. "Is that- what is- thanks, Becs! I guess?"

When the quiet didn't break, she continued, "Your eyes are blue, too, Beca. It's not a competition." She followed this up with one of those infamous Chloe winks.

The small girl sighed and closed her laptop. She was supposed to be working on a new mix but eventually, she gave in. She took off her headphones and put them aside. The four-beat loop she was listening to for almost an hour now still lingered. She could still hear it. Her hands ruffled her hair as she tried to brush the track away.

It was already 1:30 in the morning but neither one of them could really sleep.

Beca was somehow grateful that her roommate was out with not-Bumper (totally Bumper) on this night where she just needed a break from everything else. She had been captain for two years, a junior in college, and a Bella housemate for 26 months. The other girls saw her as this very reserved person who couldn't be broken but they all witnessed the change when she became fast friends with the one and only Chloe Beale. She herself noticed the change and honestly, she didn't seem to mind.

"You know, that's not what I meant. I just feel like I should let you know my favourite colour is blue. And your eyes are blue. So, my point is, I like them." The DJ wasn't quite aware of how a blush started to show in her cheeks. She'd like to blame it on a sleep-deprived state she was currently in and the hour where most people say things they usually don't.

"Aww, Beca! Your inner sweetness is showing," the redhead settled on a sitting position and smiled at the younger girl, "and just so you know, I also like blue. But definitely, strictly, just Beca-Mitchell's-eyes blue."

Innocent flirting was the word they used. Chloe Beale was known for being touchy-feely and very forward (especially towards Beca). She would say whatever that comes to her mind (especially towards Beca). She herself couldn't tell if she had crossed the line with her relationship with Beca. Or if there was even a line to begin with. She was very fond of the little alt girl ever since the fair and everybody knew that. Beca knew that. That made it easy for this to become a flirting game of two.

"Alright, Chlo. Tone it down." She faced the other woman and mirrored her sitting position. "I'm just being sincere and trying to compliment you but if this is what I get, expect no sugar from me, Red. You've been warned."

Chloe just grinned but as soon as she noticed Beca with her head down, looking at her fingers, she had to ask, "Okay. What's going on?"

"Uhm, well – it's uh, I realized how you grew on me, I guess. I'm having one of those nights where I do a reality-check self-examination kind of thing and I am not one to talk about feelings and stuff but you're here right now and that helps, kinda, so I'm being deep maybe but I can't help it." Beca drew a long breath and exhaled after releasing those strings of words. She arranged her pillows and propped herself up with her back on the wall, changing her position. "I told my Dad I wanted to leave Barden as soon as I can and before I knew it, I'm a junior and currently handling a group of girls I never thought I'd ever even be friends with. I think – and I don't want to sound like a terrible friend here – I'm a little glad you stayed behind. I never would have lasted this long if it weren't for you, Chlo." She dared to see what Chloe was up to and was rewarded with two blue orbs intently staring at her with a little hint of something playing on her lips. Not that she was looking at her mouth or anything. "Trust me, Beale. You have this effect on me."

Chloe took this as a chance to also open up to her best friend. If there was a word the Bellas would use to describe her, it would be confident. Somehow though, she would hold back around Beca. Now that Beca learned how to open up to her, she also managed to freely let go and be true to herself and respond to the DJ.

"I saw you first at the activities fair. I just had that sudden feeling of wanting to get to know you, Becs. I was very fond of you –"

"- so I've heard."

"Shut up, Mitchell! It's my turn to be sappy."

Beca raised both her arms in the air, indicating for the other girl to carry on.

"Seriously though, I meant it when I told you that I think we're gonna be fast friends. True, I failed my Russian Lit twice now but I don't regret it one bit. Maybe a little. But being a Bella makes it worth it. Being here with you, too, if I'm being completely honest. I'm rubbing on you so well, look at you talking about how much I mean to you."

Beca rolled her eyes but found herself nodding in agreement to Chloe's last statement. "Okay, Chloe. I haven't even started yet on how much you mean to me so keep it in your pants, maybe."

"Mitchell, no one's talking about pants here! But I won't say no to you, just so you know." Chloe let out a small giggle and winked which made the brunette throw a little pillow in her direction. "Ow! I didn't think you'd be an aggressive partner," she said, feigning hurt as she rubbed the area in her thigh where the pillow landed.

Beca chuckled to herself and thought, "I can play this game, too." She sat up and faced the older girl.

"I have to learn how to be aggressive in case I get ambushed again in my shower."

"So you're expecting another shower moment, huh? That's good to know." Chloe wriggled her eyebrows which didn't escape Beca's attention.

"Man, Chloe! How are you so good at this?" She let out a pretend frustrated grunt. "Just when I thought I was winning."

They were both silent for a few minutes with the occasional glances they shared with each other. Chloe was back to lying down and reading her book while Beca was just quietly humming to herself, staring at the ceiling. The dead air between them was comfortable, much like how they grew to be with one another's presence.

"Do you think it's weird? Us, I mean. Whatever this is." The brunette's voice was softer than usual as if she didn't mean to say that out loud.

Unfortunately, Chloe heard every word and replied, "You've got to be more specific than that, Beca. As far as I'm concerned, we're both weird in our own way. You're broody most of the time and I'm just here hugging everybody which confuses me because hugging isn't a quirky quality. I've been told I cling a lot though."

"No way," Beca gasped sarcastically. "I wouldn't have known."

Chloe ignored that reply with a shy smile and pressed on, "What is this about?"

The brunette took her time and carefully threaded her words. "Your eyes are blue," she could literally hear Chloe's eye-rolling, "and the reason I'm saying this is because I don't usually look people in the eye. I can't even hold a stare for five seconds! Yet, when we sang Titanium together, remember that? I found myself drowning in your eyes. Was that cheesy? Ew! I mean, I was drawn to you somehow and what could've been an awkward situation suddenly wasn't that awkward at all. You know, until pizza guy showed up."

"Tom."

"Irrelevant." Beca sat up crossed-legged in the middle of her bed. "I like you, Chloe. I don't mean that in a weird way. I just, uhm, you saw me at my worst moments before ICCAs – you know, leaving you guys – during parties when I have too much to drink, after a call with my dad which usually ends up with me being in a bad mood, and other examples which I don't have the time to bring up now. You stick to me though. Knowing that you want to get to know me, as you said so earlier, makes me, I don't know, happy. Happy, yes, is the word I'm looking for. So, thanks."

"Alright, I've been trying to read the same page over and over again. I give up. You have my full attention now." Chloe found a comfortable space between two huge pillows and turned to the other girl. "Beca, I'm sure you know I like you a lot but nothing is weird between us, okay? Remember that one Treble party we went to last year? You drank a little more than you should and practically released your inner beast."

"Oh, no! The one where I said I could walk a tightrope across their pool? In my defence, I made it halfway through before the rope started swaying and I fell."

"Exactly that. I have to leave that party early to help you get home."

"Sorry?"

"No, not really. You were actually funny."

"I'm glad I amuse you, Beale."

"You were also bold at that time. I don't know if you remember but I was helping you get out of your wet clothes and you stopped me. I told you it's nothing I haven't seen before but you just kinda stared back at me."

"Yes, now the memories are flooding back. Thank you so much."

"Do you remember what happened next?"

"I uh," Beca was fumbling with her words, unsure on how to phrase it, "I held your face with both my hands and uhm, I kissed you, uh, on your cheek and said, well I said, maybe next time?"

"That kiss was dangerously close to my mouth. I thought you were gonna go for it."

"Dude, I was drunk! That would have been awful for our first kiss."

"I wouldn't care."

"Dude, just no. Besides, at that time you were with pizza guy. I don't do cheating. My parents divorced because my dad met another woman. I'm so against cheating, just so you know."

"Tom and I were just a thing for like a semester. We weren't together anymore before our ICCA performance."

Beca scratched her temple and flopped back down on her bed. "Oh! I didn't know that."

"Oh is right. Well, maybe you were just thinking of Jesse? Such a loyal girlfriend you are." Chloe tried to be as nonchalant about it as possible but deep inside, she felt that bee sting.

"Jesse? Jesse and I –", she trailed off. She and Jesse shared that kiss after the Bellas performance and she thought they would work out for a while. They tried for 6 months but both of them eventually just accepted the fact that they could only be best friends and not lovers. They have an understanding but sometimes, Beca would forget and still kiss Jesse platonically on the mouth. She got that under control now but she didn't really tell anyone about her status quo with Jesse. She was a free agent but a busy one, with her mixes and her girls. That treble party helped her loosen up a bit.

It would be a great idea to not just tell anyone, including Chloe, that she wasn't seeing anyone at the moment. Right?

Beca was brought out of her reverie when she heard Chloe snap her fingers in front of her. "Whatever. It's not Jesse. Wait, wait a minute. Let me backtrack. You said you wouldn't care."

"Uh-huh." Chloe jumped up and placed herself next to Beca, attacking her gently on the double bed. She leant in and whispered in the DJ's ear, "It's just a kiss, Beca. I wouldn't hold that against you. What if we graduate and be on our separate ways and you realize you regret not having a taste of this?" The redhead puckered her lips and made a smacking sound with her lips. "That's a lot of years bottling up your emotions. We could just start now."

Beca rolled over and faced Chloe. She squinted her eyes towards the older girl and knitted her brows. "You're so weird."

"Thanks." Chloe pushed herself closer to the smaller girl and placed a quick kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Beca."

The brunette buried her face under Chloe's chin and smiled. She was really content with how this night turned out to be. It was just a talk between the two of them but a lot has been said. She didn't think she could say those words again when she wakes up but being sleep-deprived was better than being drunk. Albeit, they seemed to have similar symptoms such as saying things you don't usually say and doing things you usually don't do.

Before she drifted off, she heard Chloe say, "I'm glad we had this conversation."

"Me, too."


End file.
